Heading into the second half of the New Hampshire Legislature’s biennium (a non-budget year), we knew we would see bills focused on social policy: abortion would be under attack and trans kids, particularly trans girls, would be targeted. As a result, we prepared for a lot of defensive work and focused on mitigating harm.
Although there were some setbacks this session, the big takeaway is that our defensive work, in collaboration with our partners, was successful! We are incredibly proud that the most devastating proposals were defeated AND we had some proactive wins on voting and childcare. Read below for a recap on our 2026 legislative work.
DEFENSIVE WINS
We defeated EVERY SINGLE attempt to restrict abortion (HB 1590, HB 1338, HB 1333, and HB 1493)
We are proud that all four of the proposed anti-abortion bills we advocated against this year in the New Hampshire Legislature were defeated, including measures that would ban abortion after 20-weeks, give legal rights to embryos, exclude abortion providers from charitable gaming funds, and require students to watch inaccurate videos in health class.
Sixteen anti-abortion bills were introduced this year and ALL were defeated. Only one anti-abortion bill, HB 232, made it to Governor Ayotte’s desk – and she vetoed it.
These bills were part of a larger effort to roll back reproductive rights and undermine bodily autonomy. Access to the full range of reproductive health care, including abortion, is crucial to women’s health, economic security, and freedom.
We stopped trans bans in bathrooms and in sports (SB 459, SB 552, and HB 1442)
Trans girls are girls. And trans girls deserve to be safe in their schools and communities and have the same educational opportunities as every other student.
Many bills targeting transgender people, particularly trans women and trans girls, were proposed in the New Hampshire legislature this year. We focused our efforts on SB 459, which would have allowed schools to exclude trans girls from athletic opportunities. We opposed this bill because it harmed trans girls — period. But we also pointed out to legislators that it would harm cis girls, too. When we open the door to challenging or “checking” the sex of students, all girls are threatened with having their sex challenged and having to “prove” they are a girl. Adolescence is already a fraught time for girls; the last thing we need is girls worried that a coach, ref, or parent from another team is going to publicly question if they are a girl. This is stressful to all girls and makes girls less likely to participate in sports if they worried they would have their gender challenged.
Of the many proposed anti-trans bills, two passed the New Hampshire House and Senate. HB 1442 and SB 552 both included trans bans in bathrooms, sports, and jails. Governor Ayotte vetoed SB 552 citing her concerns with enforcing a bathroom ban, but HB 1442 is on its way to her desk. We are hopeful for another veto from Governor Ayotte, but hearing directly from constituents will make a big difference. Call Governor Ayotte (603-271-2121) and tell her to let all girls play sports free from harassment by vetoing HB 1442.
We stopped an effort to take away workers’ time-off for postpartum and pediatric appointments (HB 1250)
One of the key components of Momnibus 2.0 created a narrow, common-sense workplace protection so that new parents could attend postpartum and pediatric appointments during their newborn’s first year of life without risking their jobs. HB 1250 would introduce loopholes that would enable businesses to evade these regulations.
We were able to explain to the House Labor and Industrial Relations Committee why they shouldn’t allow the loopholes and to let the law stand — and they agreed! The Committee unanimously recommended to ITL (kill) the bill and the House voted to ITL (kill) it.
We are proud we were able to defend the progress we’ve made for moms.
PROACTIVE WINS
We moved forward on efforts to ensure women can vote (SB 437)
Due to new voting document requirements, married women who have changed their last name are having a hard time voting because the name on their birth certificate doesn’t match the name on their license. SB 437 proposed tracking the number of people who are turned away from the polls for various reasons which would help us understand the impact on women and fix the problem.
The Senate Election Law Committee voted to recommend ITL (kill) this bill after the sponsor worked with the Secretary of State to find a solution where a count of registrants who are turned away will be obtained without passing legislation. The bill itself will not be moving forward but a way forward was agreed to, nonetheless.
Child care is now a little easier for grandparents raising grandchildren (SB 608)
In order to get a child care scholarship from the state, families need to meet income eligibility and they have to prove they are working or enrolled in school themselves. This is hard for grandparents who are raising their grandkids as they sometimes have to re-enter the workforce or enroll in and pay for an advanced degree after they have retired. SB 608 eliminated the work/school requirement in the NH Child Care Scholarship Program for those at or over 67.
The yearly median cost of child care in New Hampshire for an infant is $21,593. When grandparents are raising grandchildren, it’s grandmothers who are primarily responsible and many struggle to afford child care on fixed incomes.
This bill was signed into law by Governor Ayotte.
PROACTIVE LOSSES
We tried to pass Medicaid coverage for diapers (HB 1798)
The high cost of living in NH puts a disproportionate burden on women, and moms, particularly single moms, are struggling to make ends meet. Diapers cannot be purchased with SNAP, WIC, or Medicaid benefits and are a uniquely expensive necessity for moms of young children.
We supported HB 1798 which would have provided a limited amount of diapers through Medicaid. New Hampshire would be the third state, after Arkansas and Delaware, to provide this support to Medicaid enrollees.
The House Health and Human Services Committee voted to recommend ITL (kill) for this bill along party lines. The House voted to table the bill and effectively kill it.
We tried to prohibit vape products from targeting girls (HB 1538)
Girls vape at higher rates than boys and vaping products often use marketing practices that target youth, particularly girls, with designs and flavors that might appeal to girls.
We supported HB 1538 which would have prohibited vaping products from being marketed using candy and dessert flavors and popular characters among youth. And it would prohibit vaping devices that are disguised as school supplies or in clothing.
The House Commerce and Consumer Affairs Committee recommended it for Interim Study, which means the Committee would look further into the bill/issue but the bill itself will not move forward this session.
